Prof Dynarski

This is the guy who knows what the real BLS numbers are.

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

“Garber, in a conversation with one faculty member, said that the suggestion that Harvard was open to paying $500 million is ‘false’ and claimed that the figure was apparently leaked to the press by White House officials...”

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

I don’t think many of yall understand how powerful the institutionalization of relative power can be, man, especially if yourself ain’t wired like that.

But these reactionaries in power, if aliens dropped down peace, and wealth health on the black poor at no charge, they’d fight the aliens.

We’re defying basic number theory at this point—riding roughshod over the intrinsic properties of integers.

First time making sourdough crackers

They did not turn out well

Upside is Ziggy now has some delicious sourdough dog treats

I’ve never hoped so hard in my alumni life for Harvard’s institutional ego to dominate decision-making

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

1/Kevin Hassett had long ago discredited himself as a scholar by parroting claims about the economy he knew to be false. Even so, parroting the lie about rigged statistics, is a new low. The academy should ostracize him the same way a fabricator of research should be ostracized.

Look at what happens to male teacher salaries (blue line) v.s. female teacher salaries (red line) after collective bargaining laws expire.

😂🔥

A civil service pro near the end of his career, William Wiatrowski, now leads BLS.

Zero political appointees work there now. It's the same staff as last week & they'll use the same processes.

Wiatrowski won't compromise integrity to save career. No one can meddle without a whistle getting blown.

Key point from Andreas Georgiou, who was criminally prosecuted for insisting on reporting accurate deficit figures when he was head of Greece's statistical agency: Reliable data is essential for democracy.

August 1, 2025 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations Statement from the American Economic Association on the Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today. The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day. Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias. The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity. Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions. We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure. Lawrence Katz President, American Economic Association Katharine Abraham President-Elect, American Economic Association Karen Dynan Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics Kenneth Troske Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

Hivemind:

I need to do some quick research on US railroad history—mainly on the actual building of it and, as a corollary, the racial dynamics of that building (in terms of construction actors and geography, specifically.)

Good books or articles you know of?

Thanks!

#AcademicSky

FYI: in the U.S. it used to be very illegal for black women to wear their hair out, and they were mandated to wear bonnets and hair wraps as their Afros and braids were seen as too alluring and as a public nuisance.

Ok let’s review the Tignon Laws, shall we? 🧵

The worst ones are people like Hassett, who are very aware that they are lying to the American people week after week on Sunday shows to cover for Trump, but do it effortlessly with a smile. In many ways worse than the brainless cultists. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Yes

They would rather rule a poorer US

Than democratically govern a rich US

"Since the first messenger who told Tigranes that Lucullus was coming had his head cut off for his pains, no one else would tell him anything, and so he sat in ignorance while the fires of war were blazing around him, giving ear only to those who flattered him."

-- Plutarch, ≈ 100 A.D.

Trump says the -818k 2024 benchmark payroll revisions show BLS commissioner McEntarfer was political and incompetent. Let’s look at the facts.
1. The revisions were released in Aug 2024, not Nov 15 as the president said. So the BLS release showing far less job growth came 3 mos. BEFORE the election

There is a threat looming on the horizon that'll fundamentally threaten the stats' integrity.

POTUS is pushing to convert many BLS & other positions now managed on technical expertise & merit (firing requires just cause) into politically-controlled jobs (at pols' will).
bsky.app/profile/aaro...

The Stephen Miller plan for America is to make the nation dramatically poorer in the aggregate in order to shift which types of people are the wealthiest and most influential.

The idea is to make America a gigantic Alabama.

Fantastic news for artists: The lost functionality of Google Image Search as a reference image source has been recreated.

Yes, VPNs can help you get around certain types of geographic restrictions, but it’s very important you do your due diligence before downloading one. ssd.eff.org/module/choo...

White House has no plan to mandate IVF care, despite campaign pledge President Donald Trump has said he wants a “baby boom,” but critics say his administration has yet to make significant family policy changes — and that Medicaid cuts will hurt.

All those Trump surrogates who touted this, and news orgs that reported it credulously, owe Americans a big fat apology www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

What if we defined the economy as the way we take care of one another? Since that's what it ultimately is/ What wood economic indicators then look like

Instead of the daily stock market - we could have an indicator for the number of homeless people?

Is there a data set on hours scheduled vs hours actually worked?

Relevant for #Medicaid #WorkReportingRequirements

If not anyone want to help me build a panel?

#HealthPolicy
#Economics
#AcademicSky

you know the world is ending when Summers is supporting a woman in STEM

Janet Yellen, not a person prone to hyperbole, put it this way: “This is the kind of thing you would only expect to see in a banana republic."

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils.

President Trump didn't like the jobs numbers, so he fired the person responsible for producing them.
It's a move that has been tried before, by leaders of countries from Argentina to Greece to the Soviet Union. It rarely ends well.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b... #EconSky

Meet the woman spending her free time chasing ICE vehicles "The more time I spend with them, the less time they spend with my community," Vargas told Newsweek.

People have shared Angie Vargas's TikToks with me and they are a mood lifter: www.newsweek.com/meet-woman-s...